Father Claude Grou, C.S.C., Of Saint Joseph's Oratory Survives Knife Attack During The Mass Today

Father Claude Grou, C.S.C., Rector of St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal

Photo courtesy: diocesemontreal.org/

Holy Cross Congregation priest, Father Claude Grou, C.S.C., '77, rector of St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, was stabbed in the chest by a young white man as he was offering the 8:30 a.m. Mass today. He survived the attack with minor injuries. 

The young man, previously known to the police, was restrained in the church and handed over to the police. 

The Catholic TV channel, Salt+Light, was broadcasting the Mass and it captured the attack live. 

For more, please read the following:

• St. Joseph's Oratory stabbing: 'People will come to pray for Father Grou' (March 22, 2019)
• Montreal priest expected to survive stabbing at St. Joseph's Oratory (March 22, 2019)
• Priest stabbed during Morning Mass at Montreal's Saint Joseph Oratory (March 22, 2019)
• Priest transported to hospital after stabbing at St. Joseph's Oratory (March 22, 2019)

Brother Ronald F. Drahozal, CSC, Is No More

Brother Ronald F. Drahozal, C.S.C., the pioneer of treatment
and rehabilitation of drug addicts in Bangladesh

Photo courtesy: Prothom Alo (Bengali daily)

The Congregation of Holy Cross Brother Ronald F. Drahozal, C.S.C., with decades of service to the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts, especially street drug addicts, in Bangladesh, died on October 15 at Dujarie House of Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. He was 81.


In 1988, Brother Drahozal founded BARACA (Bangladesh Assistance and Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts) in Dhaka. It is now a Caritas project run by Holy Cross Brothers. In 1994, he founded APON (Ashokti Punorbashon Nibash -- Drug Rehabilitation Residence) in Dhaka, and later in 2007, it moved to a new and spacious facility in the district of Manikganj where hundreds of male and female addicts receive service. 

This American Brother's selfless service drew the attention of many in Bangladesh and abroad. He received several accolades. Recognizing his service, the Bangladesh government awarded him a medal and granted him citizenship of Bangladesh. 

For details on him and his work, please read the following:

• US missionary who helped youths break from drugs passes away (Oct. 17, 2018)
• Brother Ronald F. Drahozal
• Brother Ronald Drahozal: An Appreciation (Nov. 2, 2018)
• 60 Years as Brother Ronald Drahozal, CSC (Jan. 29, 2018)
• Bangladeshi drug addicts get new lease of life (July 21, 2018)
• Brother Ronald Drahozal, C.S.C., Through the APON, Serves Drug Addicts in Bangladesh (Sept. 28, 2013)
• Brother Ronald Drahozal and Apon (Nov. 12, 2012)
• Drug rehab pioneer Brother Drahozal honoured (Jan. 25, 2017)
• AponGaon: Facebook

Father Richard J. Novak, C.S.C: A U.S. Missionary Killed In A Hindu-Muslim Riot In East Pakistan in 1964

A book on the life of U.S. Holy Cross missionary
Father Richard J. Novak, C.S.C. (1935-1964),
a professor at Notre Dame College, Dhaka 

Image courtesy: amazon.com/

Father Richard J. Novak, C.S.C. (1935-1964) was an American Congregation of Holy Cross missionary priest to the then East Pakistan (called Bangladesh after the independence from Pakistan in mid-December of 1971). On completion of his priestly studies in Le Mans, France, Dhaka's then-Archbishop Lawrence Leo Graner, C.S.C. ordained him there on June 29, 1961. 

In 1963, he went to East Pakistan as a missionary. After studying Bengali for a short time in Barisal, he began to teach Logic at Notre Dame College in Dhaka. From the beginning, he was deeply interested in the local people and their language and culture. 

"He was very friendly and likable and showed his unmistakable interest in people...He got around to more places than most of our men who have been there for many years. People everywhere still remember him. I used to worry about him, though, because it seemed to me that his liberal spirit was liable to get him into trouble sooner or later," wrote Father Richard Timm, C.S.C., a fellow missionary, and professor at Notre Dame College, on Feb. 6, 1966. 

 In early 1964, there was a Hindu-Muslim riot in India and Pakistan. In East Pakistan, the riot was severe in Hindu-populated Narayanganj and Khulna. Some Hindu riot victims were being treated at Holy Family Hospital in Dhaka. On January 15, Father Novak went to the hospital and wanted to extend his assistance. When a Hindu nurse-trainee at the hospital asked an American nun if there was anyone to help locate her father in Narayanganj where he worked at the Dhakeswari Cotton Mills, Father Novak was told of the request. Next day, on January 16, Father Novak, risking his life, bicycled 10 miles distance to Narayanganj and tried to cross the river on a ferry to reach the mills. On the boat, some Muslim youths attacked him and, on reaching the other side, killed him with lethal stabs and threw his corpse to the river. 

From that day news on his whereabouts was unknown in Dhaka for eight days. Then, some local Muslims from Narayanganj came to Dhaka and gave the Notre Dame College priests the terrible news. 

On the occasion of the remembrance of Father Novak in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, on January 27, 1964, Father Arnold A. Fell, C.S.C., wrote: "There is a sort of perfect unity in Father Richard's life in that, as far as we know, he also met death, like Christ, in the midst of the people he had come to help and succor. And from what we know he also met death on an errand of mercy, trying to help those who were threatened by the communal Hindu-Moslem riots that were raging in and around Dhaka...in the fuller, deeper sense of the word, 'a martyr is one who dies giving witness to Christ.' In this full, deep sense Fathe Richard Novak died a martyr." 

For more on Father Richard J. Novak, please read the following:

• The Day My Brother Was Murdered (by Michael Novak) (Dec. 24, 2008)
• Revisiting the Life and Death of Father Richard J. Novak, C.S.C. [1935-1964] (by Mary Ann Novak, June 2008)
• Murder, 50 Years After (by Michael Novak) (Dec. 8, 2013)
• Father Richard Novak Library Opened by His Brother Michael Novak [at Notre Dame College, Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Sept. 1, 1995]

Brother Fulgence Dougherty, C.S.C., Dies

Brother Fulgence Dougherty, C.S.C. (1922-2017)

Photo courtesy: www.up.edu/

Brother Fulgence Dougherty, C.S.C., belonging to the Congregation of Holy Cross, died on December 17, 2017 from old-age illness and complications at Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. He was 95 years old.  

Brother Dougherty served in various capacities in the USA, Bangladesh, Liberia, and Ghana. He was a renowned missionary teacher and headmaster. At the University of Portland, Oregon, USA, he was the Director of International Student Services from 1978 to 1992. He will be fondly remembered by many of his students, friends, and colleagues.  

Father Benjamin Costa, C.S.C., Passes Away

(L-R): Dominic Rozario and his friend Father Benjamin Costa, CSC, at the Mathis House of Notre Dame College, Dhaka

Photo (July 17, 2017) © Jerome D'Costa

(L-R): Father Bernard Palma and Father Benjamin Costa, CSC, as young priests in the early 1970's

Photo @ courtesy of Father Bernard Palma

With a heavy heart, I am announcing the unexpected demise of Father Benjamin Costa, C.S.C., on Friday, October 13, at 3:45 p.m. at City Hospital in Dhaka. He died of acute lung and respiratory complications due to pneumonia. He was 75.  

Father Benjamin Costa, a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Bangladesh and former Acting Vice Chancellor of Notre Dame University, first in September last had suffered from chikunguniya virus attack and later from pneumonia and serious lung complications. On September 28, he was rushed from Square Hospital of Dhaka to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where his situation did not improve. He was brought back to Dhaka few days ago and was admitted to City Hospital at Lalmatia.

His funeral Mass, held on Saturday, October 14, at St. Mary’s Cathedral at Ramna at 9:00 a.m., was attended by numerous grieving fellow priests, Brothers, Sisters, leaders of different religions, relatives, friends, school-college-university students and teachers, and well-wishers. Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario, C.S.C., a classmate and friend of Father Costa, officiated at the Mass. Another memorial Mass was held at Holy Rosary Church at Tejgaon at 1:00 p.m. Around 4:00 p.m., he was buried at the Holy Cross Community Cemetery at Bhadun, about 20 km north-east of Dhaka.

In their condolence messages, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, and Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Dr. Akhtaruzzaman expressed their shock at the death of Father Costa and praised his valuable contributions to the education and development sectors of Bangladesh.  

Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario, in an October 14 email message to me, wrote: “…The climax of our [cardinal and Father Costa’s] friendship was on 26 Sept. when in ICC [intensive care unit] at the [Dhaka] hospital, Ben [Father Benjamin] asked for the sacramental absolution of his sins on his 75^th Birth Anniversary. Confession was his best gift of friendship with me; and from me, the most precious gift to him in ministering reconciliation. Restlessly he worked, now he enjoys eternal rest.” It is noteworthy that Roman Catholics try their best to have a rewarding death by confessing their sins and receiving God’s forgiveness before leaving the earth.

Born on September 26, 1942 at Doripara Village of present-day Gazipur District, Father Benjamin Costa, at the age of five, with his siblings and parents (Late Matthew Costa and Late Elizabeth Palma) moved to Rajardior Village of Chatmohar Upazilla in Pabna District when their and fellow villagers' lands were acquired by the British government for building the railway line from Dhaka to Chittagong.  He studied at local parish primary school at Mathurapur of Pabna District and then at Little Flower Preparatory Seminary and Holy Cross High School at Bandura of Dhaka District and at Notre Dame College of Dhaka. He also studied at Notre Dame University in Indiana, USA, and later at Christ the King Major Seminary at Karachi in West Pakistan. On January 7, 1971, he was ordained a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross at Mathurapur Catholic Church. Much later, he also studied at the University of Chicago, USA.

He first served as a professor and later Principal (April, 1998- December, 2012) of Notre Dame College, Dhaka, and then Acting Vice Chancellor (2013-August, 2017) of the newly-established Notre Dame University Bangladesh in Dhaka. 

For Catholic youth formation and development, his contribution is legendary. He helped in the formation of the Catholic Jubo Seba Dal and other youth initiatives in the Archdiocese of Dhaka. He was also involved in many other charitable and educational organizations and initiatives. He was also was rector of college-going Holy Cross seminarians and Holy Cross Brother candidates. He was a prolific writer and translator. His write-ups appeared in numerous Catholic and secular newspapers, magazines, and journals. He wrote and translated several Catholic religious and spiritual books. In early 2017, his Bangla-language book of essays and articles, called Probondoshomogro, was published by Lekhaprokash -- a secular publishing house in Dhaka.

May God give an eternal rest to Father Benjamin Costa!

A part of his funeral ceremony at St. Mary's Cathedral can be viewed at: Fr. Benjamin Costa CSC: He Is No More

Notre Dame University, Bangladesh (NDUB), Debuts in Coming September

An architectural design of the future Notre Dame University, Bangladesh building

The Congregation of Holy Cross, that has been running Notre Dame College in Dhaka since 1949, is opening a university in this college campus from coming September. The same Congregation of Holy Cross runs the world-renowned University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA. 

The new university, named Notre Dame University, Bangladesh, received the required Bangladesh government approval on April 29, 2013. It will be one of dozens of universities in Bangladesh. It is going to be the first Catholic university in Bangladesh with Father Benjamin Costa, CSC, as its Vice Chancellor.

A Different Type of University

Notre Dame University, Bangladesh, is slated to be a unique university because of its “student-centered, value-based and service-oriented” emphasis. It intends to “teach students not just a livelihood, but how to live in today’s complex world.” It will “not educate just the mind but also help form the heart.” The university’s motto is “The competence to see and the courage to act.” 

The university will temporarily be housed in the buildings of Notre Dame College until the construction of its own multi-storied building in the north-east section of the same college campus. 

A Co-educational University

Although Notre Dame College is only for male students, the new university will be for both male and female students and its medium of instruction will be English.

Each academic year will have three semesters – the Fall Semester (September to Mid-December), Spring Semester (January to March) and Summer Semester (Mid-April to July). The annual admissions will take place only in September. 

Courses

The four-year Degree (Honours) courses will be of two types – the core curriculum courses and the main or major courses. 

In the first year, all students, irrespective of their major courses to be taken in the last three years, will need to take the mandatory core curriculum courses. These courses will include leadership, critical (analytical) thinking, academic methodology, linguistic skills in English, human dignity and rights, and human development. 

The students will also be exposed to Socio-cultural History of Asia, Economics, Basic Sciences (Physics, chemistry, Biology and Mathematics), Inter-Personal Relations and Bangladesh Ethnic Studies.

In addition, students will learn about globalization, common good (good governance) and gender relations. 

The core curriculum is based on the belief that “a well-educated person knows something about everything and everything of something.”

The next three years will be devoted to students’ major subjects “in context of what has been learned in the Core-Curriculum.”

Initially Three Major Degree Programmes

This non-residential university will start with only three Degree (Honours) programmes: Arts (English Language, Philosophy, Economics and Sociology), Business Studies (Accounting, Management, Marketing and Finance), and Law (both Honours and Pass Course). 

The University Website

This university's website is still under construction. In future, more details about this university can be accessed at: Notre DameUniversity, Bangladesh. 

Brother Nicholas Thielman, CSC, Observes His Golden Jubilee in the USA

Brother Nicholas Thielman, CSC, a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a missionary to Bangladesh for 45 years, celebrated his 50 years of Brotherhood in Silver Spring of Maryland, USA, on June 9. 

The golden jubilee celebration at the local White Oak Community Centre comprised of a special jubilee Mass and a reception followed by dinner. Father John Ford, CSC, of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Father John Stanley Gomes of the Seton Hall University in New Jersey, and Father Thaddeus Hembrom, CSC, a Bangladeshi priest and a student at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, concelebrated the Mass. Some American relatives and friends of Brother Thielman joined several dozen Bangladeshi-Americans in this celebration.

Jude V. Gomez, President of the Mary Lou Kalla Foundation (MLKF), that assists over 100 tribal students in Dinajpur District of Bangladesh with a school and educational materials, welcomed the jubilarian and his relatives, friends, and well-wishers. The attraction of the reception was the Bangladeshi dance sequences of children. 

At the Golden Jubilee Mass at White Oak Community Centre of Silver Spring, Maryland, USA: L-R: Brother Nicholas Thielman, CSC, Father John Stanley Gomes (from Seton Hall University, New Jersey), Father John Ford, CSC, (from the Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.) and Father Thadeus Hembrom, CSC (Bangladeshi priest and a student at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

Brother Thielman and Father Ford at the Jubilee Mass

A section of the Jubilee Mass attendants

Singers and musicians at the Jubilee Mass

Brother Thielman in front of a banner announcing the golden jubilee of his Brotherhood

Brother Thielman decked with a garland and flowers in the Bengalee style

Father John Stanley Gomes speaking at the jubilee celebration

Brother Binoy Gomes, CSC, the former Provincial of the Brothers of Holy Cross in Bangladesh, speaking on the life and work of Brother Thielman in Bangladesh

Children greeting Brother Thielman with one of the Bangladeshi dances

Brother Thielman with the dancers

Jude V. Gomez, President of the Mary Lou Foundatin in Silver Spring, along with some organizers of the Jubilee celebration is greeting Brother Thielman

Brother Thielman with a section of male and female organizers

Photos: @ the courtesy of Jude V. Gomez

The Photo of the Week

A memorial to the 150th anniversary of the 

Congregation of Holy Cross, St. Joseph's Higher 

Secondary School compound at Mohammadpur, Dhaka

Photo (Dhaka: January 8, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

My Distant Acquaintance with Brother Andre, CSC

Brother Andre Bessette, CSC

Painting (Toronto: Sept. 29, 2010) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

It was late 1950's. In the Little Flower Seminary -- a preparatory seminary -- at Bandura, Dt. Dhaka, American missionary Father Leo J. Sullivan, CSC, was the rector. He was a voracious reader. He even read magazines during mealtime in the seminary dining room! He used to subscribe to many U.S. and Canadian magazines, mostly Catholic. Later, after his reading, he would pass those magazines to us seminarians.

One was the bimonthly magazine, The Oratory, published, since 1927, by the Holy Cross Fathers at St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, Canada. This magazine would give wider coverage on St. Joseph, Brother Andre and his work, and the oratory with a lot of photos and sketches. I would read it with intense interest and curiosity. I learned a lot about Brother Andre and his work through this magazine.

I particularly felt an affinity with Brother Andre due to his qualities that resonated with those of our people in Bangladesh. Brother Andre was born and raised in a village outside Montreal. He had barely any literacy and worked as a labourer before entering the Brotherhood in the Congregation of Holy Cross. He had a kind of rustic simplicity in his manners and lifestyle.

In Bangladesh, most of the people in the late 1950's were living in rural areas with simple but hard-working lifestyle. Their literacy rate was extremely low and they barely earned enough. So, the story of Brother Andre and his work seemed all too familiar to me.

Later in life, I again came across Brother Andre when one of my children had a line of pea-like nodules in a thick neck vein. Doctors, although not sure of what the cause was, told us to be alert and said that these might turn into tuberculosis later. When American Brother Ralph, CSC, of St. Gregory's High School, where my child studied, came to know of our predicament, he gave us a relic of Brother Andre. He told us to pray to Brother Andre regularly and touch the relic on the child's neck.

To our relief, the visible round nodules gradually vanished. There was no sign of anything amiss. We do not ascribe this to Brother Andre's intervention, but that experience has a lasting effect on us.

Although Brother Andre was dead a long ago, his indirect influence touched me many thousand miles away from Montreal.

Brother Andre, CSC, Is a Saint Today

_

Brother Andre Bassette, CSC (1845-1937)

Painting (Toronto: October 8, 2010) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Pope Benedict XVI, in an impressive ceremony at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican today, officially canonized Brother Andre Bassette, CSC, the first Canada-born saint, along with five others belonging to different countries. Thousands of Church officials, priests, Brothers, Sisters, lay persons and foreign dignitaries were present in the open-air solemn Mass and ceremony.

Bangladeshi Catholics Also Feel Elated at Brother Andre's Canonization

Brother Andre is the first saint belonging to the Congregation of Holy Cross that was founded at Le Mans, France, in 1837 by Father Basil Anthony Moreau, CSC, (who has been beatified in 2007). Missionaries from this congregation at present work in 14 countries, including Bangladesh. In 1852, Holy Cross Fathers, Brothers and Sisters started work in the dioceses of Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh. The canonization of Brother Andre is, therefore, a good news for many Bangladeshi Catholics.

Two Miracles of Brother Andre

Two miracles through the intercession of Brother Andre were required for making him a saint. The first miracle occurred in 1958, when Giusepe Carlo Audino of Quebec Province of Canada was spontaneously healed of his terminal cancer after earnestly praying to Brother Andre. This healing was medically inexplicable and it led the Brother to be beatified. From then on, he was being called "Blessed Brother Andre."

The second miracle, that occurred in 1998, made Brother Andre eligible for sainthood. In that year, a 9-year-old Quebec boy, on a bicycle, was struck by a car and he received severe head injuries (massive cranial trauma with irreversible coma). Medically, there was no chance for him to get healed. His relatives prayed to Brother Andre and applied on him "St. Joseph's oil", taken from St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, Canada. The boy miraculously was healed of his injury. Now he is living a normal life. The boy's family wants privacy and want the boy to remain anonymous. After today's canonization, Brother Andre will be known as "Saint Brother Andre."

Brother Andre: A Simple and Humble Man

Brother Andre, who was born in 1845 a few kilometres away from Montreal, Quebec, comes from a rural area. He was barely literate but seriously a religious person. For 40 years, he was a Brother in the Congregation of Holy Cross. He served as a porter (doorman), launderer, janitor and sacristan (helper in the church) at Notre Dame College, Montreal. He also came in contact with the poor and sick for whom he devoted his spare time. His rustic simplicity and untainted humility attracted thousands of these disadvantaged people. They requested him for his prayers and for their healing he gave them "St. Joseph's oil." Innumerable people were healed. As a testimony to their healing, many of them left their canes and crutches with the Brother and walked home. Some of these canes and crutches are still visible at St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal. Brother never claimed any credit for the healings. He used to say: "I am a man just like you." He, of course, attributed all the miracles to St. Joseph. Every year, two million tourists and pilgrims visit St. Joseph's Oratory.